Portable computer structures

ABSTRACT

Portable computer structures are provided. The portable computer structures may include connector structures. The portable computer may have a case. A portion of the connector structure may be formed by the case of the portable computer. The portable computer may have a circuit board with grounding spring-loaded pins which electrically ground the circuit board to the case of the portable computer. The portable computer may have an optical disk drive that is form fitted to mount to the portable computer case.

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationNo. 61/105,033, filed Oct. 13, 2008, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to electronic devices such as portable computers,and more particularly, to electronic device structures such as portconnectors, grounding structures, and storage component mountingstructures.

Designers of portable computers are faced with competing demands. It isgenerally desirable to reduce the weight of a portable computer, so thata user is not burdened by an overly heavy device. At the same time,durability and aesthetics should not suffer. Often, weight can be saved,but only at the expense of reducing the size or strength of devicecomponents. For example, communications ports, computer housinggrounding arrangements, and storage device mounting arrangements inconventional portable computers may be more complex and may occupy morevolume than is desired.

It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improvedelectronic devices having improved structures for communications ports,circuit board grounding, and storage drive mounting.

SUMMARY

Portable computers and other electronic device may be provided that haveimproved communications port connectors, improved groundingarrangements, and improved drive mounting structures.

A portable computer may have a housing (case). A connector structuresuch as a connector for an Ethernet port may be formed in an opening inthe housing. The portable computer housing may form a portion of theconnector structure. For example, a metal wall portion of the portablecomputer housing may form a portion of an Ethernet jack that bears downupon a moveable portion of an Ethernet plug when the Ethernet cable plug(i.e., an RJ45 plug) is inserted into the Ethernet jack.

The portable computer may have an integrated circuit such as a printedcircuit board. The printed circuit board may serve as a motherboard(mainboard) onto which integrated circuits and other components aremounted. The motherboard may have multiple spring-loaded grounding pins.The pins may extend vertically from the surface of the motherboard. Whenthe motherboard is mounted in the portable computer, the pins may becompressed by the inner surface of the portable computer housing. Thistype of arrangement may be used to electrically ground the motherboardto the case of the portable computer.

The portable computer may have a component such as an optical disk driveor other storage component. The storage component may be configured tomate with a portion the portable computer case. The optical disk driveor other component may have integral mounting structures formed from thedrive housing with which the component is mounted directly to the caseof the portable computer. This obviates the need to use separatemounting brackets to mount the component in the case.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative portable computer inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of illustrative connector structures thatmay be provided in a portable computer in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of one of the illustrativeconnector structures of FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of an illustrative printed circuitboard with spring-loaded pins that make connections to a portablecomputer case in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the illustrative printedcircuit board with spring-loaded pins mounted to the portable computercase of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of an illustrative opticaldisk drive in a portable computer which may be form fitted to mountdirectly to the portable computer in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional perspective view of an illustrative opticaldisk drive in a portable computer which may be form fitted to mount tothe portable computer in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an illustrative optical diskdrive in a portable computer which may be form fitted to mount to theportable computer in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an illustrative communications cableconnector such as an Ethernet plug that may be inserted into acommunications port connector structure in a portable computer inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to electronic device structures such ascommunications port connectors, grounding structures, and storagecomponent mounting structures. The electronic device structures may beprovided (individually or in any suitable combination) in electronicdevices such as handheld computers, mobile phones, or other suitablecomputing equipment. As an example, the electronic device structures maybe provided in a portable computer.

An illustrative electronic device such as a portable computer in whichthe electronic device structures may be provided is shown in FIG. 1. Asshown in FIG. 1, portable computer 10 may have a housing 12. Housing 12,which is sometimes referred to as a case, may be formed from one or moreindividual structures. For example, housing 12 may have a mainstructural support member that is formed from a solid block of machinedaluminum or other suitable metal. One or more additional structures maybe connected to the housing 12. These structures may include, forexample, internal frame members, external coverings such as sheets ofmetal, etc. Housing 12 and its associated components may, in general, beformed from any suitable materials such as such as plastic, ceramics,metal, glass, etc. An advantage of forming housing 12 at least partlyfrom metal is that metal is durable and attractive in appearance. Metalssuch as aluminum may be anodized to form an insulating oxide coating.

Case 12 may have an upper portion 26 and a lower portion 28. Lowerportion 28 may be referred to as the base or main unit of computer 10and may contain components such as a hard disk drive, battery, and mainlogic board. Upper portion 26, which is sometimes referred to as a coveror lid, may rotate relative to lower portion 28 about rotational axis16. Portions 26 and 28 may be formed from metal or other materials. Forexample, housing portions such as these may be milled from blocks ofaluminum or constructed from other metals or conductive materials.Portion 18 of computer 10 may contain a hinge and associated clutchstructures and is sometimes referred to as a clutch barrel.

Lower housing portion 28 may have a slot such as slot 22 through whichoptical disks may be loaded into an optical disk drive. Lower housingportion may also have a touchpad such as touchpad 24 and may have keys20. Buttons and other controls may also be mounted to housing 12. Ifdesired, additional components may be mounted to upper and lower housingportions 26 and 28. For example, upper and lower housing portions 26 and28 may have ports to which cables can be connected (e.g., universalserial bus ports, an Ethernet port, a Firewire port, audio jacks, cardslots, etc.). With one suitable arrangement, device 10 may have aconnector such as port 32 to which a cable can be connected. In the FIG.1 example, port 32 is located on the right side of lower housing portion28. This is merely an example and, in general, port 32 may be located atany suitable location (e.g., on the left side of computer 10).

If desired, upper and lower housing portions 26 and 28 may havetransparent windows through which light may be emitted (e.g., fromlight-emitting diodes). This type of arrangement may be used, forexample, to display status information to a user.

Openings may be formed in the surface of upper and lower housingportions to allow sound to pass through the walls of housing 12. Forexample, openings such as openings 30 may be formed for microphone andspeaker ports.

A display such as display 14 may be mounted within upper housing portion26. Display 14 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD),organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or plasma display (asexamples). A glass panel may be mounted in front of display 14. Theglass panel may help add structural integrity to computer 10. Forexample, the glass panel may make upper housing portion 26 more rigidand may protect display 14 from damage due to contact with keys or otherstructures.

Computer 10 may have input-output components such as touch pad 24. Touchpad 24 may include a touch sensitive surface that allows a user ofcomputer 10 to control computer 10 using touch-based commands(gestures). A portion of touchpad 24 may be depressed by the user whenthe user desires to “click” on a displayed item on screen 14.

A perspective view of a connector structure that may be in a portablecomputer is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, connector 32 may beformed in a side of lower housing portion 28 (e.g., the left hand side).Connector 34 may also be formed in the side of lower housing portion 28.Additional connectors may be formed in hole 44 of lower housing portion28.

If desired, connectors such as connectors 32 and 34 may have groundingpins such as grounding pins 35 and 38. Grounding pins 35 and 38 may beused to electrically ground cables that are connected to connectors 32and 34. As an example, a conductive outer portion of a cable thatconnects to connector 32 may bear against grounding pin 38 andelectrically ground connector 32 to lower housing portion 28 and device10.

Connector 32 may be any suitable type of connector. For example,connector 32 may be an Ethernet port connector, a telephone portconnector, or any other suitable type of connector. Connector 32 may bereferred to herein as an Ethernet port, but this is merely an example.

Ethernet port 32 may have electrical pin connectors 36 or other suitableelectrical contacts that mate with corresponding electrical contacts ona cable connector. Electrical pin connectors 36 may be flexible metalstrips which electrically connect to associated contacts on a cable whenthe plug portion of the cable (e.g., an RJ45 plug) is inserted into port32. As an example, Ethernet port 32 may have eight metal strips 36 whichconnect to eight respective contacts on an Ethernet cable connector(RJ45 plug). Each metal strip 36 may be associated with one of eightconductive lines in the Ethernet cable.

A portion of port 32 such as an upper inner planar surface of port 32may be formed from a planar sidewall portion of housing of device 10.For example, portion 40 of port 32 may be formed from lower housingportion 28 of device 10. Portion 40 of port 32 may bear against amoveable portion of a cable when the cable is inserted into port 32.With one suitable arrangement, the housing of device 10 is formed from ametal such as aluminum. Portions of the aluminum may form planar housingwalls of about 1 mm in thickness. Portion 40 may be formed from thistype of planar housing wall, other suitable sheets of housing material,or any other suitable housing structure.

Retaining clip structures associated with the Ethernet connector on thecable that connects to port 32 may engage portions 42 (retainingstructures) of port 32 when the cable is connected to port 32. Theretaining clip portions of the cable may be a part of the moveableportion of the cable (portions of which bear against portion 40 of port32).

A cutaway view of port 32 is shown in FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 3,housing wall portion 40 of lower housing portion 28 may form a portionof port 32 (i.e., an upper inner wall surface portion). As a connectorfor a cable is inserted into port 32, a moveable portion of theconnector which extends outwards from the connector may bear againstportion 40 and bend inwards.

After the connector has been fully inserted into port 32, retaining clipstructures that are formed as part of the moveable portion of theconnector may reside behind retaining structures 42 of port 32 (e.g., inthe void of port 32 corresponding to portion 40 of lower housing port28). If a force were to attempt to pull the connector out of port 32,the retaining clips on the cable connector will bear against the innervertical walls of port retaining structures 42 and will resist the forceattempting to remove the connector from port 32.

A user may remove the cable from port 32 by bearing down on the moveableportion of the cable such that the retaining clips of the cable are nolonger engaged with portions 42 of port 32.

As shown in FIG. 4, device 10 may have a printed circuit board such asprinted circuit board 48. Printed circuit boards such as printed circuitboard 48 of FIG. 4 are sometimes referred to as motherboards. As shownin FIG. 4, board 48 may be provided with spring-loaded pins 50 such asPogo® pins used to electrically connect board 48 to housing 28 of device10. Connectors such as Ethernet port 32 and connectors 46 (e.g.,universal serial bus ports 46) may be mounted on motherboard 48.

Pins 50 may be used to electrically connect motherboard 48 to lowerhousing portion 28 of device 10, as an example. With one suitablearrangement, pins 50 may be electrically conductive regardless ofwhether pins 50 are compressed. Motherboard 48 may have any suitablenumber of pins 50 at any suitable locations. As one example, pins 50 maybe concentrated in particular locations to enhance the grounding ofmotherboard 48 to the housing of device 10 at those locations. Forexample, pins 50 may be concentrated near a central processing unit onmotherboard 48 (e.g., within a lateral distance of a centimeter or lessor other suitable lateral spacing along the planar motherboard surface)to ensure that the central processing unit has access to a strong groundconnection through pins 50.

As shown in FIG. 5, when motherboard 48 is mounted to lower housingportion 28 of device 10, pins 50 may be somewhat compressed and pins 50may form an electrical path between lower housing portion 28 andmotherboard 48. Pins 50 may form a path between grounding paths onmotherboard 48 and lower housing portion 28. When housing portions suchas housing portion 28 are formed from material such as anodizedaluminum, laser machining or other suitable techniques may be used toselectively remove a portion the oxidized surface of housing 28 in thevicinity of pins 50. With this type of arrangement, the pins makeelectrical contact with exposed conductive surfaces of the conductivehousing at the portions of the housing from which the oxidized surface(or other insulating coating) has been removed, thereby ensuring goodelectrical contact.

With one suitable arrangement, the use of pins 50 to ground motherboard48 to the housing of device 10 may help to ensure that the motherboardis properly grounded. For example, even when motherboard 48 is notproperly mounted (e.g., when less than the typical number of mountingscrews have been used to mount motherboard 48 to housing portion 28) andmotherboard 48 is not precisely in its nominal position relative tolower housing portion 28, pins 50 may help to ensure that motherboard 48is still properly grounded to lower housing portion 28.

As shown in FIG. 6, device 10 may have an electrical component such asoptical disk drive ODD 52 or other storage component. Drive 52 may havea housing or other suitable structures that are adapted to conform tothe shape of the housing or other structures within device 10. Forexample, drive 52 may have portions 55 which are formed to mate with thecontours of the inner surface of lower housing portion 28. This mayallow direct mounting of drive 52 to corresponding mounting structuresin lower housing portion 28. With one particularly suitable arrangement,which is shown in the example of FIG. 6, drive 52 may be mounted tolower housing portion 28 without the use of additional hardware (e.g.,without the use of mounting brackets). Screws 54 may be passed throughholes in portions 55 and screwed into corresponding threaded portions ofhousing 28. Portions 55 of drive 52 may be structures that are anintegral part of the housing of drive 52. This drive housing may beformed from metal, plastic, or other suitable materials. Drive 52 may bean optical drive, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or any othersuitable storage component or electrical device.

FIG. 7 shows a close-up view of drive 52 and one of the integral drivehousing structures (e.g., one of portions 55) which can be form fittedto allow mounting to device 10 using screws 54. As shown in FIG. 7,portion 55 may be formed into a shape that has a screw hole that allowsscrew 54 to pass through portion 55 and fit into corresponding threadedrecess 56 of lower housing portion 28.

FIG. 8 shows an exploded perspective view of drive 52. As shown in FIG.8, drive 52 may have portions 55 which are form fitted to mount to lowerhousing portion 28. With one suitable arrangement, drive 52 may bemounted to lower housing portion 28 by inserting screws 54 throughportions 55 of drive 52 into screw holes 56 (e.g., threaded recesses 56)of lower housing portion 28.

Drive 52 may have optical disk slot 62. Optical disk slot 62 may acceptdisks into and eject disks out of drive 52. When drive 52 is mounted tolower housing portion 28, disks which are inserted into or ejected fromslot 62 and drive 52 may pass through disk opening 60 in lower housingportion 28.

If desired, drive 52 may be chamfered (narrowed) along an edge (e.g., anedge such as the edge associated with optical disk slot 62). Bychamfering drive 52 along the edge of slot 62, it may be possible tomount drive 52 against the edge of housing portion 28 (e.g., directlyagainst the edge of housing 28 associated with opening 60) even when theinterior depth of housing 28 is narrowed (tapered) near the edge ofhousing 28.

An illustrative Ethernet plug (RJ45 plug) is shown in FIG. 9. As shownin FIG. 9, plug 100 may have a main body formed from plastic or othersuitable materials. A cable such as an Ethernet cable 104 may beconnected to body 102. Wires in cable 104 may be respectively connectedto electrical contacts 106. Movable portion (bendable portion) 110 ofplug 100 may be used to retain plug 100 in a connector port in device 10such a port 32. When plug 100 is inserted into port 32, the upper planarinner surface of housing 28 (portion 40 in FIG. 3) bears against movableportion 110 (e.g., along surface 107 and surface 108). This bendsportion 110 downwards in direction 114. Once inserted within port 32,the vertical inner walls of retaining structures 42 in port 32 bearagainst vertical wall portions 112 of movable portion 110, retainingplug 100 in port.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this inventionand various modifications can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

1. A connector port in a portable computer that has a portable computerhousing, wherein the connector port receives a cable connector having abendable portion, the connector port comprising: an upper inner surfaceportion formed from part of the portable computer housing that bearsagainst the bendable portion of the cable connector when the cableconnector is inserted within the connector port; and retainingstructures adjacent to the upper inner surface portion that form wallsthat retain the bendable portion of cable connector when the cableconnector is within the connector port.
 2. The connector port defined inclaim 1 wherein the upper inner surface portion comprises metal thatforms part of the portable computer housing.
 3. The connector portdefined in claim 1 wherein the portable computer housing comprises analuminum portable computer housing and wherein the upper inner surfaceportion comprises part of the aluminum portable computer housing.
 4. Theconnector port defined in claim 3 wherein the cable connector comprisesan RJ45 plug and wherein the upper inner surface portion and retainingstructures are configured to receive and retain the RJ45 plug.
 5. Theconnector port defined in claim 1 wherein the cable connector comprisesan RJ45 plug and wherein the upper inner surface portion and retainingstructures are configured to receive and retain the RJ45 plug.
 6. Theconnector port defined in claim 1 further comprising a grounding pin. 7.The connector port defined in claim 1 further comprising a plurality ofelectrical contacts that mate with corresponding electrical contacts inthe cable connector.
 8. A portable computer comprising: a conductivehousing; a printed circuit board; and at least one spring-loaded pinconnected to the printed circuit board, wherein the printed circuitboard is mounted within the conductive housing so that the spring-loadedpin is compressed and grounds the printed circuit board to theconductive housing.
 9. The portable computer defined in claim 8 whereinthe portable computer comprises an upper housing portion and a lowerhousing portion and wherein the lower housing portion includes theconductive housing.
 10. The portable computer defined in claim 8 whereinthe printed circuit board comprises a motherboard.
 11. The portablecomputer defined in claim 10 further comprising an integrated circuitthat mounted on the motherboard, wherein the spring-loaded ping isconnected to the printed circuit board within a lateral distance along asurface of the motherboard of less than one centimeter.
 12. The portablecomputer defined in claim 8 wherein the at least one spring-loaded pincomprises a plurality of spring-loaded pins.
 13. The portable computerdefined in claim 8 wherein the conductive housing comprises aninsulating surface, wherein a portion of the insulating surface isremoved to expose a conductive surface of the conductive housing, andwherein the spring-loaded pin contacts the exposed conductive surface.14. The portable computer defined in claim 8 wherein the conductivehousing comprises aluminum with an oxidized surface, wherein a portionof the oxidized surface is removed to expose a conductive surface of thealuminum, and wherein the spring-loaded pin contacts the exposedconductive surface.
 15. The portable computer defined in claim 8 furthercomprising a connector port that receives a cable connector having abendable portion, the connector port comprising: an upper inner surfaceportion formed from part of the conductive housing, wherein the upperinner surface portion of the conductive housing bears against thebendable portion of the cable connector when the cable connector isinserted within the connector port; and retaining structures adjacent tothe upper inner surface portion that form walls that retain the bendableportion of cable connector when the cable connector is within theconnector port.
 16. An electronic device, comprising: an electronicdevice housing; and a storage component having a storage componenthousing, wherein portions of the storage component housing are screweddirectly to the electronic device housing.
 17. The electronic devicedefined in claim 16 wherein the electronic device housing comprisesthreaded portions and wherein the portions of the storage componenthousing comprise screw holes, the electronic device further comprisingscrews that pass through the screw holes into the threaded portions toscrew the storage component to the electronic device housing.
 18. Theelectronic device defined in claim 17 wherein the electronic devicecomprises a portable computer and wherein the electronic device housingcomprises a lower portable computer housing portion.
 19. The electronicdevice defined in claim 18 wherein the storage component comprises anoptical disk drive.
 20. The electronic device defined in claim 19further comprising a connector port that receives a cable connectorhaving a bendable portion, the connector port comprising: an upper innersurface portion formed from part of the electronic device housing,wherein the upper inner surface portion of the electronic device housingbears against the bendable portion of the cable connector when the cableconnector is inserted within the connector port; and retainingstructures adjacent to the upper inner surface portion that form wallsthat retain the bendable portion of cable connector when the cableconnector is within the connector port.
 21. The electronic devicedefined in claim 20 further comprising: a printed circuit board; and atleast one spring-loaded pin connected to the printed circuit board,wherein the printed circuit board is mounted within the electronicdevice housing so that the spring-loaded pin is compressed and groundsthe printed circuit board to the electronic device housing.